Wentworth Season Five: A Queen Will Rise, Episode 1
by eragona1
Summary: Will Bea Smith survive her fight with Joan Ferguson? This is a fan-fiction story that takes place immediately after the events in Season Four, Episode 12. This story makes references to events from all of the seasons of the show including S4E12. This is NOT an official story from the makers of Wentworth. This is the complete Episode with 8 scenes.


**Wentworth: Season Five, Episode 1**

From the Mind of Aunty Liz. Elizabeth Ragona #AuntyLizWW

Rated M. This is a fan-fiction story that takes place immediately after the events in Season Four, Episode 12. This story makes references to events from all of the seasons of the show including S4E12. This is NOT an official story from the makers of Wentworth.

 **S5e1: opening scene.**

Bea is lying on a gurney in a screaming and speeding ambulance. EMTs are frantically trying to stop the blood and fluids coming from her abdomen, packing her body with sheets of gauze. Doors are thrown open as she is taken into the ER. Trauma surgeons scramble to sew up the shredded intestine and fasten together the layers of torn muscle and skin. "It's up to her now," they tell Maxine and Ms. Miles, who waited when they overheard the ambulance calling it in.

"Can I see her?" Maxine pleads. Maxine bends down and whispers in Bea's ear, "Bea, she's awake. Allie is alive. You need to fight. You need to stay."

They have to leave and get back for the evening count. When they arrive they find the prison in chaos: Joan Ferguson's screams can be heard throughout H Block, and Tina has already started her drug giveaway.

Allie and Bea are both in the ICU, in side by side rooms. Allie begins to get more lucid and continues to ask for Bea. Worried that she will hurt herself, her doctor asks Bridget to talk with her. The forensic psychologist tries to calm her but realizes that the only thing that will calm Allie is to see Bea. So Bridget has them roll the young woman's bed into the room beside Bea.

"Bea. Bea? Can you hear me?" Allie reaches across the gap between the beds and touches Bea's hand. "I'm here. I'm right here. I'm not giving up on you. I love you. Stay with me. Fight for me."

Bells go off! Code red! Bea's heart is coding!

"Bea! Stay with me! Keep fighting!" Allie shouts, reaching and grasping for Bea as they wheel her out and nurses rush in.

A few frightful minutes later the bells quiet, and the beep is steady albeit weak.

The next day, Allie is moved to a private room to continue her detox and respiratory rehab. She also has a meeting with Vera, the prosecutor, and a police detective. And as she recites the events of the day of her attack, Vera realizes that her prison is about to be in complete chaos. Bea is no longer top dog, and Kaz and Tina's crews have joined up. The only good thing to come out of the meeting is that Allie's testimony gives them enough cause to arrest Joan Ferguson for her attack on Allie and keep her in prison while awaiting a new trial.

Bridget, Will and Vera continued to visit them both, each one leaving Bea with a message to stay and fight for herself, for the girls in the family, for Allie. Each one walking away wondering if it would be the last time they saw her alive.

After the first night alone in her own hospital room, Allie sneaks into Bea's ICU, sending her prison guard on a panicked search through the hospital. When Officer Thompson can't find her, he goes to ask Officer Ford, the burly, bald guard assigned to "watch" Bea Smith, to help him continue searching. A string of curses poured from his mouth when a nurse exiting Bea's room told him that Allie was there with Bea. The two officers look in the room and see Allie asleep, curled up in a plastic chair, holding Bea's hand, her head resting on the edge of the bed. When they tried to take her back to her own room, she latched onto the safety bar on Bea's bed and wouldn't let go. The harder they tried to remove her, the louder she got until the attending doctor had to come in and tell them that it was okay for her to stay. He had figured out that the younger woman was his patient's spouse and gave her permission to remain in the room. Given the condition of his patient, and the damage to her lower intestines, her chances of recovery were low. Perhaps having her partner nearby would give his patient the motivation to fight for her own life. As for the young lady fighting to stay, she would need the time to say goodbye if things took a turn for the worse.

After four days, the walk to the ICU had become a familiar path for Will. Out the elevator. Take a right at the first hall. Down a long hallway filled with paintings by former patients. Past the waiting room, chairs and end tabled moved here and there to create spaces for families to sit together or to try to sleep while waiting. He looked in but he knew that Allie wasn't in the waiting room. He stopped at the door and hit the open button before squirting a shot of hand sanitizer. He put on one of the visitor gowns over his blue jeans and t-shirt, and settled the mask as he walked through the open ICU. He circled around the nurse's station to the glass room at the back and stopped.

Alarms from several of the machines on the wall were going off and there was a doctor and two nurses working frantically to keep Bea's heart pumping. Allie was standing in the doorway watching them, begging Bea to stay.

"Bea, please stay with me. Don't leave me. You've got to fight. Stay with me." She kept pleading. She didn't stop until the solid tone stopped. They waited. Beep… Beep… Beep… The sounds came slowly but at least they came. As the doctor watched her numbers return to normal, Allie and Will watched and waited.

One of the nurses looked up at Allie and smiled. "She's a fighter." Allie smiled and nodded; too emotional to speak. She motioned Allie to the side of the bed and Allie could see color coming back into Bea's chiseled features.

Allie bent down close to Bea's ear. "Bea, can you hear me? I'm here. Please wake up." She whispered.

With a flutter and a low, deep moan, Bea's eyes opened and Allie began to cry. She turned and looked up at Will, watching by the door, and there were tears streaming down his face.

 **S5E1: Scene 2**

Vera looked out the window of her office down into the H3 Yard. She watched as Tina Mercado walked around with Kim and another Asian with a chiseled haircut. Mercado looks like a rooster she saw on a farm she visited once as a child. Women moved aside for them, others gave them candy bars or other items from the commissary.

"How does it look?" she heard Jake ask in a voice too close to her ear.

She straightened up and pulled her jacket down tightly as she stepped away from the window and pushed him away with one hand. "She's collecting tribute. With Smith gone, perhaps for good, there's going to be a battle for top dog and she's dealing her way to the top."

Jake gave her his signature grin and she tried not to blush. When he winked at her, she knew she had failed miserably. "We'll stop her. We'll keep doing the daily searches and put her back in the slot."

"I still don't understand why you let her out," When he didn't answer right away, she gave him a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow that told him she really wanted an answer.

"I thought she knew something that we could use to protect Bea and I wanted to get on her good side."

A faint bell went off in her head as his own words echoed, "she won't lag." Prisoners don't lag; it gets them hurt or worse. And she had two prisoners in the hospital as proof. Bea and Allie took on the Asians, the Red Right Hand, and Joan Ferguson; and they both had to be brought back from the dead. She felt sad. She felt guilty. She wondered if she had let them fight battles she wasn't willing to fight herself.

"Shall we do another ramp on H3?" Jake asked just a bit too eagerly.

Where was Will? She wondered to herself. She wanted his steadiness, his quiet strength.

"Vera?"

"What? Oh. Yes. Go ahead. But do it right after lunch in case anything changed hands while they were all together in the cafeteria."

He smiled as he lifted himself out of the chair. "Righto!" He stopped as he stood in doorway and gave her a shot of his bright blue eyes. "Dinner tonight?" His grin meant something more than just dinner.

"Wha…um...sure." She stammered. Linda Miles didn't even try to hide her smile as she passed Jake in the doorway.

Linda watched him close the door and then looked at the Governor, flushed and fidgeting with her jacket. "I thought he was gay?" she asked.

"What? No." Vera cleared her throat as she realized that she'd been caught. She pulled her jacket down. "How can I help you, Miss Miles?"

"We got a call from the hospital." Vera looked up at her with a worried look in her eyes. "Smith is awake."

It was at the moment that she realized she had been holding her proverbial breath. "Thank you," was all she could manage as she signaled that Linda could leave. She walked behind her desk and sat down in her custom-made chair, built to her specifications. She let out a breath and a moan caught in her throat. She knew when she walked into Bea's cell that day and asked "Are you ready?" that she was giving up; she was letting Bea fight a battle she was afraid to fight. Joan might not be able to intimidate her mentally, but the woman scared her into inaction and she knew that Bea was the only one who had the strength to fight her. Like Tina, who was clucking around the yard, she had believed that Bea was gone; killed in a battle of body and mind against the psychopath. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the blood pouring out of Bea's body and heard Will screaming for the ambulance.

She grabbed the radio from the charger on her desk. "Radio Two to Radio Three."

"Radio Three here," Jake replied cheerily.

"I'm going out for an hour. You're in charge." She docked the radio without waiting for a reply and grabbed her keys and the clear plastic purse she carried to work. She needed to see Smith; she needed to apologize.

 **S5E1: Scene 3**

Vera wasn't the only one watching Tina strut around the yard. Even though Kaz was playing a game of basketball with her girls and Juice's "boys", she made sure to keep an eye on Tina. Mercado was a shrewd businesswoman; give the women enough free smack and they'll pay anything for more. At first it felt like a small price to pay to get rid of Bea and her strong-arm control of the prisoners. But now these women had chosen her to lead them; could she lead them down a tunnel filled with Tina's gear?

The basketball hit her in the chest and after some bobbling, she caught it and looked around. The women were all looking at her, waiting for her to do something, but she just felt like running away. She tossed the ball into the basket with her right hand as she grabbed her leg with her left hand and feigned a leg cramp. Sarah and Jaz started to complain but one look from Snortz shut them up quickly. It was good to have her crew watching her back, and the pink hair didn't fool anyone; Snortz could give as good as she got.

As she rubbed her thigh, she didn't hear Maxine sit down beside her and was startled when the former 2IC asked, "So are you going to do anything about this?" in the most judgmentally, non-judgmental tone she'd ever heard.

"I can't do anything about it. I made an…arrangement… and I have to keep my word."

"And what about your arrangement with these women?" Max waved her hand delicately. "What about Allie? Do you want her coming back to this? If you love her so much why would you put her in that position again?"

Kaz twisted on the bench toward Maxine: her first look was shock, the second was alarm and fear. _Damn, she's good. She doesn't miss a thing_ , she thought to herself. "You think you know everything?"

"I know that you care about Allie, or you wouldn't have saved her so many times. And you say that you care about these women. You're top dog now. Are you going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?"

Max stood up and walked along the wall toward the table where Boomer, Liz, Doreen and Sonia were sitting quietly, sadly, just looking out into the yard. All the other women were playing and laughing and going on with their lives as if they hadn't just lost their leader and best friend. But her "family" had lost so much. _Bea thinks she lost Allie. We still might lose Bea. Dor has lost her baby and Nash. Liz keeps looking at Sonia like she stole the last piece of cake. And Booms hasn't stopped crying in a week. I think it's more than just Bea and she doesn't want to tell me_ , Maxine thought to herself. _So, no baby, no Bea, and I'm not sure if I can win the fight against this cancer_. The women all turned to look at her as she approached. _Smile. Just smile. We'll get through this._

"So what's Kaz going to do," Liz asked her.

Maxine shook her head slowly. "She doesn't know. She made a deal with the devil and didn't think about the repercussions."

Doreen moaned. "Last thing we need is everyone on dope again. It just got all cleaned up and you don't have to worry about some junkie stealing your stuff to buy some gear."

"Anyone tries to steal my stuff, I'll bash their tits in so far that when they scratch their back they'll give themselves a hard-on." Boomer turned to Doreen. "And what did you expect when you sided with Kaz?"

"I wanted the women to have a say."

"We're in prison; we don't get a say. We get a top dog who looks after us and we look after her." And with that, Boomer got up and stormed across the yard, nearly running Officer Miles over.

"Hello, Maxine," said the officer. Maxine gave her a questioning look. "You have an appointment today at the hospital. Time to go."

"What? It's not until Tuesday."

"That other appointment. Come on, we don't want to be late." Linda tugged on Maxine's shirt to get her to move.

Maxine rose and followed the officer through the yard to the gate; she could see a van already waiting at the door. "What's going on?" she whispered.

Linda looked up and put a finger on her lips. It wasn't until they got in the van and were outside the prison walls that she finally said, "Bea's awake."

 **S5E1: Scene 4**

By the time Maxine and Miss Miles got to the ICU doors, her chest pounded with anticipation and pain. She was out of breath and had to find a chair before she dropped to the floor and had to be admitted. Linda put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Linda asked, her face filled with worry.

"Yes. Thank you. I just need to catch my breath."

"Officer Miles? Conway? What are you doing here?"

Linda turned to face the Governor. "Conway had a doctor's appointment. We just stopped by to see how Smith was."

Vera turned her attention to Maxine, who looked weak and flush. "How are you Maxine?"

Maxine tilted her head and shrugged. "I'm getting through it and everyone has been so supportive. I appreciate what the officers are doing to help me."

Vera nodded and smiled at Linda. She patted Maxine gently on the shoulder. "We will do everything we can. I know it will all be okay."

"Thank you, Miss Bennett."

Everyone looked up as the charge nurse opened the double doors. "You can go in now."

"How is she?" Maxine asked.

"She is still critical. She is only conscious for brief moments. She lost a lot of blood and her abdomen had to be spliced together. She has ten staples inside to hold her muscles together. We're feeding her intravenously and trying to keep the risk of infection down. Everyone will have to wear a mask and gown."

Vera led the group through the ICU to the farthest glass cubicle. It was bigger than she expected. The bed and machines were against one wall and there was a blue recliner chair in the corner. Officer Ford stood outside of the cubicle; his wrestler appearance seemed like overkill given the condition of who was being watched. On the far side of the bed, Allie Novak was sitting in a plastic chair, her trembling hand cradling Bea's still one. It was an indication to Vera that Allie was still going through detox from the hotshot given to her by Ferguson. Vera was surprised that Novak was there and that she wasn't gowned or masked. She gave Office Ford a questioning glance.

He shrugged and looked over his shoulder at her. "She wouldn't leave. We tried to take her back to her room but it was either restrain her or let her stay. We figured that it was easier to keep them together than having two of us watching them on different floors."

"It was a good call, Mr. Ford. Mr. Channing will appreciate the savings as well." Vera smiled behind her mask as Ford straightened and gave her a bit of a nod.

They gathered around the bed, Allie on Bea's right, Maxine at the foot, and Vera and Linda on the left near the door. Novak was lightly brushing Bea's hair with her free hand while Bea slept. She didn't pay attention to the visitors, she just kept up a monologue in low whisper. As Vera stepped closer she realized that Allie was talking about Bea's daughter Debbie, apparently reciting stories that Bea had told her before. Vera bent down and put her hand over Allie's, the curls of Bea's hair softly flowing over the pillow.

Allie looked up at her, more childlike than she had ever seen any prisoner before. "How is she doing, Novak?"

Allie started to speak in a whisper and then cleared her throat. "Um. She's good. She's steady." Allie looked up at the monitors beside her. "She wakes up a little but still hasn't gotten fully conscious."

"I'm sure she will," Vera reassured her and Allie smiled the sweetest smile that said she wanted to believe her. Looking at all of the machines and the bag of bile hanging from the side of the bed, Vera wasn't sure she believed herself. She looked at Officer Miles and signaled that they should wait outside and the two of them went to talk to Officer Ford.

Allie watched the governor and guard leave and her eyes continued to Maxine, who smiled at her. Maxine walk around the side of the bed and put an arm around Allie's shoulder.

"She's going to be okay. She's strong. And now," she put her hand under Allie's chin and lifted her head, "now, she has something to live for."

One of the machines began to beep more quickly and they both turned toward the sound, and then looked down at Bea. Vera and Ms. Miles poked their head back into the room.

Allie looked down as Bea's hand tightened around her fingers and then looked at Bea's face. With a low moan and a flutter of her eyelids, Bea opened her eyes and saw Allie's face smiling back at her.

 **S5E1: Scene 5**

Jake finished logging in his report on the ramp in H Block and listing the drugs and paraphernalia they found, at least the ones he planned on turning in. The rest were stuffed into his pants and would be returned to Mercado while she and her crew prepared dinner. So far she was excepting the ramps as a business loss but he knew that he couldn't keep doing the searches. He needed to figure out a way to get Vera to back off but that was going to be hard if Mercado kept tossing out bags of ice like it was the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras parade. He locked the recorded drugs in the safe in Vera's office and replaced the key under her pencil tray.

His trip to the kitchen lead him past the Isolation Block and he hoped he could get past the windows without being seen.

"You haven't come to see me yet, Mr. Stewart." The voice made his stomach twist and shrivel inside. "How are you?"

Did he keep going or stop and talk to her? He didn't want to be added to the long list of people on her bad side but he didn't want to look at her and be reminded of what he had done for her.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw Jesper's face, he smelled the blood and kerosene, and he could feel the heat of the fire. It made him sick and he stopped trying to eat because it kept coming back up.

"I just wanted to thank you." The sickeningly sweet voice echoed in the empty ward and he could hear her through the glass window. He kept going, hoping that was really all she wanted.

Joan Ferguson watched him lower his head and walk faster away from the Isolation Block. This is what it must feel like to have a puppy she thought as a smile slowly formed. Here was someone she could mold and train into anything she wanted. He wouldn't disappoint her like Vera had disappointed her. As soon as the taste of the bile left his mouth, he would be back to see her, she was certain of that. In the meantime, she was grateful for the privacy. She could think without being bothered by sniveling, damaged women who had no idea how to take control of their own lives.

Everything was about control. From the gray hairs she selectively left in her hair to give her an air of maturity but not so much that it made her seem old and feeble, to the shoes that added two more inches and made it so even Will Jackson had to look up to her; everything was about control. She could fill a room with her voice or whisper so only one person could hear her if they were in a crowd. Every move, every sound she made was the same as the tip of her rapier – an extension of her arm – cutting or guiding as she required.

"Guard?" she called to the dark-haired woman that looked like the matron at her boarding school. She smiled as the guard turned to look at her. She lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head. Look friendly, Joan told herself. Act as if you like her. Pretend you have forgotten that she betrayed you and gave Shayne's letter to Vera. "Guard? Can I have a visitor request form please?"

There was one other person she needed to speak to, needed to see face-to-face: Shayne. She had to make sure he couldn't be influenced by Frankie Doyle. She needed him on her side. He was hers, as Jianna was. And this time, she wouldn't let him go.

 **S5E1: Scene 6**

"Bea? Can you hear me?" Allie whispered through her tears. Bea squeezed her hand. "I'm here. I'm right here. You stay with me, okay?" Another squeeze.

The officers moved aside as a nurse came in with a cup of water and a little sponge on a stick. She rearranged the tubing around Bea's nose and swished out Bea's mouth with the sponge and then she gave the cup to Allie. "She can't have any liquids but use this to keep her from getting dry." Allie nodded and thanked her.

Bea squeezed Allie's hand and tear-filled, blue eyes looked at her. "How?" It was still too hard to speak, her throat sore from the intubation tubes and lack of fluids.

"Don't try to speak. You're in the hospital," Allie informed her.

"How… long?"

"Nearly a week." Allie's voice cracked as she tried to hold back all of the emotions she was feeling. Bea looked at her and her eyes said so much that Allie couldn't keep her tears in any longer. She kissed Bea's forehead as she wept and dropped her head onto Bea's chest.

Bea ran her hand through Allie's hair trying to comfort her while her own tears flowed down her cheek. She looked at all of the people standing around her bed: Vera, Miss Miles, and Will standing in the doorway, the tray of Styrofoam coffee cups trembling with his emotions. She found Maxine's face, wet with tears.

"We thought we lost you," her second in command said quietly.

"I…tho…," the sharp pain ripped at her throat with every word. "…lost." She looked at the blond head still trembling on her chest. "I… no…stay."

The words made Allie burst into tears again and she made another round of kisses on Bea's forehead and cheeks. "I'm here. I'm right here. You stay with me," she ordered. "I'm never showering without you again."

The look of embarrassment on Bea's face made them all laugh and whatever cloud had been hanging over them all disappeared.

Vera stepped closer to the bed and patted Bea's hand. "You rest now. I'll come check on you tomorrow. Mr. Ford is right outside if you need anything." Bea nodded. Allie looked up at her and said a silent thank you. Vera smiled at her. "You take good care of her." Allie nodded back and turned to look into loving brown eyes.

The two lovers lost in each other's eyes didn't hear as everyone else left the room. Maxine was the only person who noticed as Vera stopped and took one more long look at the two prisoners holding each other.

As elevator doors closed behind the guards and Maxine, the other elevator doors opened and Bridget stepped out. Frankie stopped at the edge of the elevator and couldn't step onto the floor. Bridget turned to look at her and Frankie's look said more to her than Frankie knew it could. Frankie was scared.

Frankie didn't let people in. It was easier to be alone than risk losing someone; and more importantly, risk being vulnerable. Bridget had seen the notes. The two women had been in conflict from the moment Bea entered the prison. But over the years they had developed a respect and friendship for each other, not just a bond because both had been top dog, but because both had a common goal of putting Joan Ferguson behind bars forever. Ferguson played them against each other; but once her plan was revealed, they found a common cause that brought them together. And each one was stronger because of that bond.

And now, perhaps the only true friend Frankie has ever had, lay in a hospital bed fighting for her life because of one final attempt to reveal the monster that was Joan Ferguson. Frankie's look pleaded with her; she was too afraid to walk into that room by herself.

Bridget put one hand out to stop the elevator doors from closing and stretched the other over the gap to Frankie. There was a moment that she thought Frankie would refuse it but then the younger woman reached up. The moment she felt Frankie's hand in hers, she pulled her from the elevator and pulled her into her arms. She didn't realize just how strong Frankie was.

Allie looked up as the two masked women walked up to the open doorway. She recognized Bridget immediately but not the taller woman.

Frankie stood in the doorway and looked at the woman in the bed and then at the blond sitting by her side, their hands folded around each other's. Ah, the hen, she thought to herself. Red picked herself a cute one even if she was blond. "Hey, Red."

"Frankie." Bea's voice was hoarse and if was possible, even more graveled.

Bridget stepped into the room and pulled Frankie in behind her. "You don't have to try to talk. We just wanted to come by and see how you were doing." Bea nodded and smiled at her.

Frankie looked at her from head to toe. "Well you don't look like Swiss cheese so I guess you'll be okay."

"Okay enough…take you down a notch." Bea shot back.

"Bring it, Bitch." They laughed at each other and Frankie stepped to the side of the bed. Bea reached a hand up and Frankie took it in both of hers. "I heard what you tried to do. Next time you call me and we'll take her out together, ya hear?"

Bea shook her head. "No! You…free. Stay…free." She coughed as bile refluxed into her already burning throat.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay." Frankie reassured her.

Allie offered her another swish from the wet sponge and the few drops of water helped her push the bitter taste back down. "You stay safe. Keep Shayne safe," Bea pleaded with her.

"I will." Bea gave her a look that said she didn't quite believe her. "I will! I will! But you have to promise me that you'll stick around for your hen here."

Bea's hands tightened around Allie's. "Definitely."

When the nurse walked in with an empty container, Bridget knew it was best if Frankie didn't watch as she changed out the bag of bile hanging from the side of the bed. "Bea, you take care of yourself and get well. Allie, let me know if you need anything, okay?" Allie nodded her head.

As the two women started to leave, Allie called out, "Frankie?" Frankie turned, her mask in her hand. "Chicken?" Frankie laughed the whole way to the elevator.

 **S5E1: Scene 7**

Jake had to get out of the kitchen before the smell made him throw up an already empty stomach. Mercado had most of her gear back and now she wanted him to bring in more. He knew he was digging himself in deeper, just like he did at Wolford, but he had no idea how to get himself out now and seriously thought about getting on a plane to the US and getting lost.

"Oh Mr. Stewart." He heard her call through the glass and turned to look at her. She held up a piece of paper. "I have a favor to ask."

Oh, shit. He thought to himself. He couldn't pretend that he didn't hear her, so he swiped his keycard and the door lock clicked open.

The smell of curry flooded the room and she gagged. She slid the paper underneath the door, not wanting him any closer than necessary. "I need you to process this. I need you to make sure he comes to see me."

He picked up the paper from the floor. "Shane Butler? They aren't letting you see anyone except your lawyer."

"I'm sure you can make it happen… Jake. Now, be a good boy and run off. I'm not sure which is worse: the smell of Nurse Ratliff or Tina Mercado's drugs."

He left, found the nearest bathroom and locked the door behind him. "Shit! Shit! That bloody bitch." He took his name badge off and pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it in the garbage can. Then he took off his t-shirt and scrubbed himself with soap and a paper towel, averting his eyes to avoid his reflection in the mirror. He smelled the t-shirt before putting it on and realized that it smelled as bad as his uniform shirt and tossed that toward the garbage can as well. He stood there at the sink and caught himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was gray. His hair was going in all different directions. He was a mess; and he knew it.

He turned on the faucet and splashed water in his face, trying to rub away the dirt that was on the inside. Finally, he looked into the mirror and pulled his hands through his hair. He looked at the man in the mirror and scoffed. Then he got very close, and looked again.

"We have to get rid of her," and the man looking at him smiled.

Sometimes she found things lying around when she cleaned up: towels, shampoo, even gear that had been dropped unknowingly. But Soz never expected to find an officer's shirt. She stuffed it in her track pants and went to find Kaz. She found her in the laundry talking with, of all people, Maxine.

"She betrayed us. She killed Bea. She nearly killed Allie," she heard Kaz say.

"She won't stop until she gets what she wants," Maxine replied.

"What the fuck does she want?"

"Power. Complete domination over everything in here."

There was silence for a moment as Kaz let that sink in. That went against everything she stood for. "We have to get rid of her," she finally decided.

"How?" Maxine asked, knowing that many had already tried.

Soz stepped out of the shadows and pulled the shirt out. "Would this help?"

Miss Miles came through the door and Kaz stuffed the shirt inside a pile of laundry she was folding. "Let's go, ladies. Hurry it up. Dinner time."

"Right away." "Be right there." "Nearly finished."

Miss Miles continued down the hall and Kaz gave the shirt back to Soz.

"Put this in a safe place." Soz stuffed the white shirt back into her track pants and disappeared down the hall. As they walked out, Kaz leaned over to Maxine. "Let's take that bitch out… for Allie."

"For Bea."

Kaz raised her hand and Maxine slapped it, hard.

Frankie held out her hand and Bridget slapped it and grabbed it. Frankie pulled her up out of the car and into an embrace. She kissed her, softly at first, and then deeply, taking her time. Bridget melted into her arms and savored the feel of her tongue touching her lips, her mouth. The woman knew how to press every button and make her wet and wanting her right there. When she felt Frankie's hands slide down her hips, she knew they'd better get inside before they scandalized the neighborhood.

She grabbed Frankie's hand and lead her up the stairs and across the porch. As she reached for her keys, Frankie continued to touch her, holding her from behind. Hands slid across her hips and down her thighs as her tongue found a sensitive spot just below her ear. Damn, the woman was so long, Bridget managed inside her head. When Frankie's hands pulled her back into an embrace, she could feel Frankie's hips rocking from side to side as her teeth nibbled her shoulder. The keys fell onto the wooden porch and Frankie spun her around, lifting her, bending to her; their lips craving each other. Bridget's arms wrapped around Frankie's neck. Somehow the keys managed to get into Frankie's hand and she opened the door, pushing them both into the darkness. She closed the door behind them and they continued, wrapped around each other, into the bedroom.

Frankie sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Bridget to her; unbuttoning her shirt, unzipping her skirt, sliding everything off until there was only this woman, standing nude in front of her. She stood and pulled Bridget into an embrace, one that seemed different to Bridget. She looked into Frankie's eyes, asking.

"I love you," was not the answer she expected to hear.

Bridget smiled and put her hands gently on Frankie's cheeks, and pulled her closer. "I love you too." And then she kissed Frankie as she unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders. She reached around and unhooked Frankie's bra, kissing the tattoo over her heart. She undressed the woman she loved and guided her onto the bed. Tonight, she took her time, savoring the scent and taste and length of the beautiful woman beneath her. And Frankie, perhaps for the first time in her life, allowed herself to be made love to.

As they lay wrapped in each other's arms, their bodies hot and wet with sweat, Frankie's stomach grumbled and Bridget's body shook as she giggled. When her own stomach rumbled, she knew they had to remedy the problem. She sat up and pulled Frankie up with her.

"Come on, Baby, let's cook."

"I thought we just did that."

Bridget leaned over and kissed her deeply. "Mmm. Yes, we did. And now I want pasta and that salmon we bought yesterday."

"You just love me for my cooking."

"I love you for all of you, Baby. Your cooking is a bonus."

Frankie lifted Bridget off the bed and was fully prepared to carry her naked into the kitchen but Bridget stopped them at the door and grabbed their robes. Frankie wrapped her arms around Bridget's kimonoed body and they walked together into the kitchen. When they turned the light on, Bridget remember their guest and they stood looking over the tall, thin teenage boy sleeping on the couch.

"What are we going to do?" Bridget asked Frankie.

"We have to keep him away from her. We have to protect him."

"She will get to him. There's nothing we can do."

"Then we'll have to get rid of her. For good."

There was a knock on the door and Vera looked up from the report on her desk. "Yes?"

Will opened the door, stepped in and closed it behind him.

"You saw the tape?" he asked.

Vera looked up at him and nodded.

"He's helping her." She nodded again. "She must have something on him." She nodded one more time. "Fuck, Vera, will you quit nodding. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to get rid of her."

 **S5E1: Scene 8 **Content Warning: Violence & Brief description of rape****

After the visiting hour ended, the nurses came around to check on them both.

The staff knew it was unusual to let Allie stay in the ICU but she had put up such a fight when the prison guards tried to take her back to her room that it wasn't worth the disruption to the other patients, and they didn't want to risk her doing more damage to her lungs and liver. It had been a week and she still suffered from muscle tremors, weakness, restlessness; and soups were the only food she could keep down. When she sat down beside Bea, her left leg continued to shake. Whenever Bea slept, she paced the room or walked around the nurses' station until she was too weak to continue. The CNAs kept the recliner made up as a bed and Allie slept whenever she needed, but mostly she sat and held Bea's hand and talked to her about anything she could think of.

After a young nurse came and gave Bea a towel bath and changed her bandages, she reminded Bea that she had to remain lying down and keep her body as still as possible so she didn't open any of her internal wounds. She pulled the curtain around to give them some privacy and closed the sliding door as she left.

They were finally alone. Allie sat down in the chair beside the bed and took Bea's hand. Bea kept massaging Allie's hand trying to convince herself that Allie was really here beside her. Allie focused on Bea's hand knowing that as long as it continued to hold hers, Bea was alive and was still with her.

They had been through so much in such a short time. Their first meeting in the equipment room was less than a month ago. Three days later, Ferguson drowned Bea. She had been in this very room until they could release her back to the medical block at Wentworth.

Then Kaz told her that she had used Allie to set her up for Ferguson. It felt like being stabbed in the heart. She couldn't breath and she didn't want to live. She rejected all of Allie's attempts to reconcile until that moment in the hallway. There was something in the way Allie said she didn't give up on her made her question what Kaz told her. She got Allie moved into the spare cell in H1 and spent the next few days helping Allie detox. Since then, they were inseparable.

There came a moment when Allie's eyes cleared and she knew the worst was over that their relationship returned to stolen kisses and hidden hand-holding. They would shower side by side and kiss over the stall. They would sneak into Bea's cell and just sit on the bed and talk. They weren't fooling anyone. When Bea realized that everyone was watching them, she decided it was time to just be real and put her arm around Allie. She never felt so proud as when she walked down the hall with this beautiful woman in her arms; this woman who loved her, and had saved her in so many ways.

But Kaz kept pushing and pushing. And Tina kept threatening. And Juice? Well, Juice was just Juice looking out for herself. Bea couldn't really blame her; they had had their share of fights. People just kept pushing her! What do you do when people push you or threaten you? You either fight back or you walk away.

Jacs Holt pushed her around and she tried walk away, but Jacs wouldn't stop. Braden Holt pleaded for his life and when he thought he had won, the look he gave her showed his true colors. It was too much. Shooting him seemed like the only answer at the time.

Even Frankie kept on her until she knew there had to be a showdown. They had to settle things once and for all. But Bea had a secret – she had nothing left to live for – so every fight became a battle to the death. And that was too big a price for Frankie. There was still a bit of hope left, still some good left. Bridget saw it. Perhaps that's what made Bridget fall in love with her.

So when Kaz called her out in the yard that day, she knew it was either fight back or walk away. But being top dog put Allie in too much danger. And maybe she hadn't completely recovered from her drowning, but she just didn't have any energy to fight. She didn't want to fight. So she did what she'd been trying to do since the first day – walk away from a bully and live a happy life.

Bea stopped. She had been telling all of this to Allie when something clicked and a lightbulb turned on.

"I've been trying to walk away from bullies my whole life. My father was a bully. Harry was a bully and he beat me and raped me; and I wanted to be away from him so badly that I tried to kill him. The first time I met Jacs, she made me make tea and rejected it five times before I finally had to ask her to stop. That was the last time I got to walk away from her without a fight."

Allie looked at her and just wanted to hold her take all the pain away.

"My mother is gone. Debbie is gone. I couldn't risk losing you too. I had to try walking away. For both of us."

Allie bent over her lover and kissed her.

"Wha…what was that for?"

"I love you. It couldn't have been easy doing that. Walking away from the women, from Maxine and Boomer, Liz and Doreen. Knowing that Tina would bring the drugs back. It couldn't have been easy."

"It was the easiest thing I've ever done. Choosing you, choosing us, was… is… the right decision. I would be happy spending the next ten years living in that little cell, growing a garden, watching the tellie, and making love with you."

"Is that the order you want to do it in? Cause that doesn't make a girl feel real special if you'd rather garden more than make love."

"Oh, I'd much rather make love." Bea smiled and pulled Allie in close to kiss her.

"You reckon?" Allie kissed her again.

"Mmhm. I reckon."

Allie smiled and kissed her again. And then raised up so she could look at Bea. She put her hand on the gaunt, pale cheek. "Then you get better and I promise, I will make love to you every day."

"That's an arrangement I can live with."

"I'm serious. No more of this dying stuff."

"I am too." She put her thumb on Allie's chin and waited for Allie to focus on her. "Allie, I've never felt like this. I never knew what it meant to be alive. I want to live now and I want to be with you for as long as I live. I love you, Beautiful. I love you." Bea wrapped her arm around Allie's neck and Allie lowered into the long, slow kiss.

After a moment of just holding each other, Allie stood and turned out the light. As she walked over to the recliner, Bea called to her.

"Allie?" The younger woman wiped away a tear from her cheek and turned around. "Will you sleep here with me?" Bea gently slid over to the make room for Allie in the luxurious hospital bed.

Allie lowered the safety bar and gently climbed into the bed beside her lover. She turned onto her side and placed her arm over Bea's chest, reveling in the rise and fall with each breath.

Bea woke from the nightmares with a jolt. The pain medications numbed the wounds but couldn't keep the real damage from hurting. Every time she closed her eyes she felt Joan's cheek on hers. She felt the heat of her breath. She felt her hair being pulled and her body held immobile in Ferguson's strong arms. And she felt the thrust of the screwdriver over and over and over. It was the same rhythm that Harry had used when he raped her and it made her feel that all over again.

She reached for Allie but the younger woman wasn't there.

"Allie?" No answer.

"Allie!" Where was she?

"ALLIE!" Oh My God! Where was Allie!

"Bea! Bea!" Allie came rushing in, two nurses following closely behind. "It's okay. I'm right here. They had to get some samples and give me my meds and we didn't want to wake you. I'm here now."

Bea was too distraught and couldn't be calmed. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." Bea wept and Allie held her as much as she could without twisting her and tearing her stitches. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me."

"Shh. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She reached over and pushed the button on the morphine pump, giving more thought than she liked about getting one of those for herself. "What happened? Did you have a bad dream?"

"I could feel her. I could feel the screwdriver every time she pushed it in. Every time she twisted it."

"Shh. I've got you. She's not going to hurt you anymore." Allie just held her and brushed her hair and her face. "Shh. It's going to be okay."

It took a while but Bea's breath finally slowed and she let out a big sigh and yawned.

She turned to look at Allie, who was studying her with worried eyes. As they looked at each other, together, they both inhaled. Together, they both spoke.

"We've got to kill Ferguson." "We've got to get out of here."

Please read Wentworth Season Five: A Queen Will Rise, Episode 2 at  
s/12094537/1/A-Queen-Will-Rise-Season-Five-Episode-Two


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